Archives for January 2014

It should be a common knowledge to all of us that malware now usually comes in the form of non-suspicious files to deceive users into downloading it. In many cases, seemingly legit files are downloaded, leading to compromising the user’s PC.

Kaspersky Labs has always been among the security experts that constantly warn online PC users against downloading and installing unfamiliar files into their machines. Now, the security vendor warns users against downloading and installation of what is supposed to be a PC version of WhatsApp, the popular mobile app.

We all at one point or another, have connected our phones to our computers to transfer a file, to root our devices, or to simply browse our system in a manner we are used to seeing. People, myself included, view this way as the most secure way of transferring files, especially since we have the hardware right in front of us as opposed to the modern cloud methods. However, a recent piece of malware has been uncovered that tries to infect our Android devices that connect to an infected Windows PC. This Trojan attempts to install mobile banking malware, and acts in reverse to what we have seen before. We have known about Android malware that attempts to infect Windows systems when an infected Android device connects to the PC.

Search Security – January 14, 2013 – Brandan Blevins, News Writer – As financial malware evolves and adopts new capabilities, a new report highlights how financial firms and consumers are struggling to fend off malware that uses sophisticated communications techniques, many of which are virtually impossible to detect.

Dr. Ken Baylor, research vice president for Austin, Texas.-based NSS Labs, authored The Cutting Edge is Honed, a look at how financial malware evolved during the course of 2013. Baylor found that the criminal crews behind the malware targeting financial firms are not resting on their laurels, with new, nearly impossible-to-stop features being added to already successful pieces of malware.

Among the new additions are cutting-edge, click-enticing capabilities that would make marketing firms salivate.

“They’re now able to do things such as take video captures of your screen so they can see when you’re filling out a pop-up that’s asking for your Social Security number to watch your mouse to see how many seconds you hesitated before you either ignored it or clicked through,” Baylor said. “So it’s quality assurance on how effective their pop-ups are at convincing you to hand over your information. We’re seeing a lot of innovation in this [area].”[Read more]